Topic 3: Demographic Changes and the Family Flashcards
Key Demographic change: The Birth rate is declining
in 1970, the fertility rate was
2.4 per woman in the UK, and in 2018, it had reduced to 1.7 births per woman.
Key Demographic change: Family Size is declining
In 1871 the average woman had 5.5 children, but as mentioned above, is
now 1.7 births per woman.
trends in birth rate and family size:
Changing social attitudes to children
“Childless” to “childfree”
-Up until the late nineteenth century, large families were seen
as desirable, but from the 1870s onwards, fewer children (or no children!) as a way of improving their living standards.
-many couples now describe themselves as ‘child-free’, emphasising their lack of
children as a freely chosen lifestyle option.
trends in birth rate and family size: Changing social attitudes to children
Child-centeredness:
the time and costs
involved in raising children have increased. This has further reduced the economic attractiveness of having large numbers of children. Instead, parents are more likely to concentrate their efforts on raising a small number of children as well as they can.
trends in birth rate and family size:
Changing social attitudes to children
The cost of a child:
-Centre of Economic and Business Research (CEBR),
-from birth to 21 in 2013 was £230,000.
-£460 a year on average on things they do not need after giving in to the pestering
trends in birth rate and family size Popularity of Postmodern ideas
individualisation:
-women’s desire for careers over
children and the notion of being child-free,
-Relationships
and are no longer tied to traditional social norms that, for example, might dictate that at a
particular stage in life a person should get married and then start a family.
trends in birth rate and family size Popularity of Postmodern ideas
Risk:
-children are an added risk factor, both to their relationship and to their
economic wellbeing.
-delaying or avoiding having children.
trends in birth rate and family size Popularity of Postmodern ideas
reflexivity
individuals will be more likely to question (rather than simply accept) whether they want children and whether children will fit into their current life stages.
trends in birth rate and family size Changing role of women:
Changing women’s aspirations: Sue Sharpe
trends in birth rate and family size Changing role of women:
Women’s rising levels of educational achievement:
-Maire Ni Bhrolchain (broccoli) and Eva
Beaujouan(frecnh)
-More and more women are staying on longer in education
-educated women are also likely to seek to establish themselves in careers once they have completed their studies.
- explain social class trend within age pf child bearing
rends in birth rate and family size
Changing role of women:
Women’s greater participation in the labour force:
-the Think Tank Catalyst, women’s representation in the
labour force is steadily increasing.
-Women represent just under half of the
total labour force in the UK.
Key Demographic change: Men and women are marrying later
1972 –> 28 PnL
2018 –> 38 (late 2010s)
average across both gender
Key Demographic change: Women are having children later
1972 (PnL)–> 24
2017 (late 2010’S)–>29
changes in the age of marriage and the age of childbearing,Changing social attitudes
Less Social Pressure
-Up until the 1960s there was strong social pressure on most couples to marry young,
to have children young, and to marry before setting up home together.
-British Social Attitudes Survey (Park et al. 2013)
-views on sex before marriage with 80 per cent in 2012
believing it was ‘rarely wrong’ or ‘not wrong at all’.
changes in the age of marriage and the age of childbearing
Popularity of postmodern ideas
individualisation
-Individuals are no longer bound by traditional social norms and pressure to
make certain decisions at certain times
-People may also decide to put off having children until it meets their
specific needs at a later time in their life
changes in the age of marriage and the age of childbearing
Popularity of postmodern ideas
Risk:
Children as well as marriage are both considerable risks – marriages can lead to
divorce, and child-rearing is a difficult, unpredictable endeavour.
changes in the age of marriage and the age of childbearing
Popularity of postmodern ideas
Confluent love:
giddens -temporary and fragile intimate relationships where the
expectation of each partner is that the relationship will continue only so long as what they
invest emotionally is returned.
-many individuals feel they can find this kind of love outside marriage
changes in the age of marriage and the age of childbearing
The changing role of women
Changing women’s aspirations:
Sue Sharpe
changes in the age of marriage and the age of childbearing
The changing role of women
Women’s rising levels of educational achievement:
Maire Ni Bhrolchain and Eva
Beaujouan
changes in the age of marriage and the age of childbearing
The changing role of women
Women’s greater participation in the labour force:
Think Tank Catalyst,
Key Demographic Change: The average age of the population is increasing
From 1985 (mid 80’s) to 2019 (late 2010’s), the median age of the UK
population increased from 35 years to 40 years (ONS).
Reasons for an ageing population
Changing social attitudes to children x2
-“Childless” to “childfree”:
-Child-centeredness:
Reasons for an ageing population
Medical and healthcare advancements
Increased life expectancy:
-1951, in the UK was 66.1 years for men
and 70.9 years for women; by 2010-12 it had increased to 78.7 for men and 82.6 for women (ONS).
-improved medical treatments, housing and living standards, nutrition and
changes in the population’s smoking habits.
Reasons for an ageing population
Medical and healthcare advancements
Declining mortality:
Infant mortality: in 1901, 25 per cent of all deaths were babies
under one year whereas in 2005 they accounted for less than 1 per cent of deaths.
-This means that fewer people are being born in the younger generations (because more babies are surviving) than in previous generations,
reducing the size of the youthful population.
Reasons for an ageing population,
Children as an economic burden
Children moving from an economic asset to an economic burden:
-legislation has gradually banned or restricted the opportunities for
children to work, and the length of time children spend in schooling has gradually
increased.
-the period in which children are financially dependent on
parents has been extended as the school-leaving age has increased and more and more
young people go on to further and higher education.
Reasons for an ageing population,
Children as an economic burden
The cost of a child:
Centre of Economic and Business Research (CEBR), the
cost of raising a child from birth to 21 in 2013 was £200,000.
